Out of the Woods
by Vala Mal Jackson
Summary: AU. Mulder disappeared and is missing for ten years. Why is he found wandering in New Mexico?
1. Chapter 1

"Scully," said the all too familiar voice of Skinner, DA of the FBI. His normal almost monotone voice was edged with what seemed liked to be a mixture of panic and childish excitement.

Sully, who had just gotten off after a 16 hour shift at the ER, was less than exuberant in her reply. "What?' She asked groggily. Scully had just fallen asleep when she heard the annoying vibrating of her cell phone placed on the night table besides her bed.

"We found him," said Skinner, this time the excitement took over in his voice. "We found him!" If Skinner had been in the room with her, he would be jumping up and down.

Sully sat up straight in bed as soon as she heard those words. She felt an intense shiver run down her spine. "What?" Her voice this time was shaky like she could barely breathe.

"We found Mulder,' said Skinner. He let his words skink into Scully.

Scully gasped. Mulder had been missing for over ten years. He had been taken, abducted, by aliens or by the government, and there had not been a single trace of him. In the early years of his disappearance, Scully has searched for him. Scully had run herself ragged for three years, traipsing the globe in hopes of finding him. That had finally stopped after Scully had a mental breakdown. Scully was given mandatory medical leave, after she got better, she decided that it would be best if she did not return to the FBI. She had been working as an ER doctor for almost six years now. Scully loved the job, it was something different every day. Sometimes she missed working for the FBI, but if Mulder wasn't there, there was really no point in her returning. "You're kidding me," said Scully quietly. Her voice had disappeared with shock. She thought for sure that he would be dead at least by now. "Where is he?" She had a million and one questions running through her head and that was the only one she could think to say.

"New Mexico," said Skinner. He was practically screaming into the phone. "The Albuquerque police department picked up a man, who was wondering near the dumpsters of a restaurant. He was exposed indecently and they took him to the station. Upon questioning him, they learned that he appeared to be suffering for amnesia and was undernourished. They finger-printed him, found the match, and called us. He is now being held at UNM hospital."

Scully was silent for a couple of moments as she let the words sink into her. She had really given up hope of ever seeing him again. She noticed that her heart was pounding in her chest. "Do you know how severe the amnesia is and what could had caused it?"

"No, I just gave you all the information I had," said Skinner sighing, "They did not give me much information over the phone." He cleared his throat. "If you want, you can come with me to New Mexico to pick him up. I can book another ticket."

"Of course I will go!" shouted Scully. "Jesus Skinner, why would you think I would not want to go? This is Mulder!"

"Well, I wasn't sure, if you were comfortable with seeing him," said Skinner. "We have no clue what his condition is."

"No, I want to go," said Scully. "When is the flight?"

"I will book a flight for 2pm," said Skinner. "I will come and pick you up."

"Okay," said Scully." I will be waiting."

Scully got up and started packing. Even though she had only an hour of sleep, she was now too awake to care. Many thoughts ran through her head. So, he had amnesia, but how bad was it? He wasn't wearing any clothes and he was rummaging through dumpsters, which must mean that he was in some sort of mental distress. So many things ran through her head, it made her dizzy.

Skinner came and picked up Scully at noon. Scully had bought a small house a little out of the city after she got out of the FBI. Scully ran out of her house as soon as Skinner pulled into the driveway in a black SUV.

Scully saw Skinner a few times a year. To her, he was her closest friend. Scully had never been one who had many friends, but since Mulder had been abducted she had become more isolated. Scully visited her mother, her brother with his two children numerous times a year, but other than that she did not really have any friends. She worked and then spent days at home with her dog. Scully had always been more of a solitary person, but now she was practically a hermit.

Scully often had often been asked out by her single male colleagues and she had accepted a few. However, the relationships always ended after a few dates because the men always felt she was too cold. This had hurt Scully because she wanted to have companionship and a semblance of a normal life, but she had envisioned that future with her former partner Mulder.

Skinner got out of the SUV. Skinner was those rare types of people who did not seem to change or age over the years. "Hey," said Skinner as he grabbed her small black carry-on. He looked at her with an odd expression like he could not decide whether or not if he should be happy or solemn. His brown eyes looked Scully up and down a searched for her mood.

Scully gave Skinner a small smile ."Hey," she said. Sully could not decide on her emotions, so she looked expressionless.

Skinner through her bag along with his in the trunk. Then he opened the door on the passenger's side for Scully. She climbed into the seat and fastened her seatbelt.

Skinner closed the trunk and then went to his seat and started the car. He backed out of her driveway. "I can't believe we are doing this." He said.

"I know,' said Scully. She looked out the window. The day had started out cool for a day in June. It was cloudy and now the clouds had begun to weep. The softer pitter patter of the rain was soothing until it was interrupted by the obnoxious noise of Skinner turning on the windshield wipers. "I was beginning think that this day would never come."

He nods, "Truth be told, I had given up." Skinner had blamed himself for Mulder's abduction. He had been with Mulder in Bellefleur Oregon. Mulder had forbidden Scully to go back to Oregon because "they" had been taking abductees. However, Mulder had been wrong, "they" had actually had been taking people who believed in the existence of extra-terrestrial beings. A few months later they had found Billy Miles and few others that had been abducted dropped off dead. However, they never dropped off Mulder, which made Skinner and Scully believe that they were keeping Mulder alive. This had kept hope going, but their hoped waned when the Mulder case grew cold and they no longer had any leads.


	2. Chapter 2

Scully turned her gaze from the window, to back at Skinner. Her brow was crossed as if she was trying to solve a great problem. "Why do you think they returned him Skinner? Why after all this time? It makes no sense to me. "

Skinner shrugs. His gaze was focused on the road before him. "I thought about that too. I think there are probably two reasons. It's a trap or they are done with him and have no further use for him."

Scully nods. She had thought that it might be a trap, but it had been so long and no one worked for the X-Files now. Scully also had stopped searching for the truth, she could not think of anything she had done in over ten years which would warrant a trap. "But, why not kill him? The others were found dead. I wonder what the prevalence of dropping him off in New Mexico? I just don't understand it."

"Well, Mulder was always special," said Skinner. "Let's try not to worry about it right now, Mulder is currently being guarded by four agents. We will learn more once we get down there."

The plane landed at 9pm in Albuquerque. Fortunately, the hospital where Mulder was staying wasn't very far from the airport. It was warm and very dry. The last time Scully had been in New Mexico was seven years ago when they thought they had a lead on Mulder. She was in Roswell, when the most famous UFO crash had occurred. They turned up nothing and Scully remembered how much she cried on the flight back home to Washington DC. It was fair to say that Scully hated New Mexico.

They quickly drove to the hospital. Scully sighed as she looked at the large building. Somewhere in there was Mulder. Her stomach flipped over and she felt vaguely nauseous. She was afraid to see the man she had waited for so long to return. She felt the touch of a hand on her should and she jumped.

"It's going to be okay," said Skinner reassuringly.

Scully slowly nods. "I hope so."

They entered the hospital. Skinner goes up to the front desk and shows the receptionist his badge. "We are here to see the man that has been identified as Fox Mulder."

The receptionist smiles and nods. "We have been expecting you. There will be agent right down to escort you."

Skinner and Scully wait a few minutes. A young man with black hair who was clearly of Native American descent approached them. He was dressed in plain black t-shirt and jeans. "Hello, I am Agent Garcia. I am the one who is in charge of keeping your man guarded."

Skinner shakes hands with Agent Garcia. "Yes, I remember talking to you over the phone. It's nice to meet you."

Scully extends her hand as well. "I am Dr. Dana Scully."

Agent Garcia smiles, "It's a pleasure to meet you as well. It's not too often when we get people from DC out here. Come this way, we have to go up a couple of floors."

"Thank you," said Scully. She looked calm and expressionless, but internally she was on the verge of having a panic attack. Her heart was racing and she felt dizzy. She wondered if she was going to burst into tears when she lays eyes on Mulder, All of these pent up emotions that were held up over the years were ready to burst.

Agent Garcia leads them to an elevator. They all go in and he presses the button for the sixth floor. "I hear that this Mulder has been gone for ten years. It's pretty crazy, normally people that are abdicated normally don't survive for over 72 hours."

"Yes, we were pretty shocked to get the call," said Skinner.

"What is Mulder's condition?" asks Scully, tapping her foot. She hates being in elevators, they make her feel claustrophobic.

"Well, first thing he has no idea who he is. I haven't spoken to him personally yet, but the nurse told me that he cannot remember anything, not even his own name." Said Agent Garcia. The elevator dings and the doors open. "He is just two doors down."

"Oh," said Scully. "What is his physical condition?" She glanced around the hall of the ward. It was your average high security ward. All the doors of the rooms were metal and locked. Each room had a viewing window. Scully wanted to run and look into the window of Mulders room but she waited to the others to catch up with her.

"We haven't done a lot of tests yet," said Garcia. "We wanted to wait for you to come before we did anything really. His condition is stable, he is very malnourished, and his body is littered with scars that are comparable to repeated beatings. There are some fresh wounds, but those appear self-inflicted."

Scully took a sharp breath. "I see."

A nurse reproached the group of agents and doctor. "The patient is awake."

Skinner placed his hand on Scully's shoulder. "You should see him first, you are the doctor."

Scully nods and she took a few slow steps down to his room and peeked into the viewing window before actually stepping into his room. She crossed her arms, there was a nurse setting a tray onto to the bed which blocked her view of the person in the bed. The nurse moved to write something her his chart. Scully almost covered her eyes, she was almost too shy to look at him However, and she made herself look anyway. There was a very thin man in the bed with shaggy brown hair. Scully put her hand under her chin and studied him for a few minutes. The man in the bed took no notice that someone was watching him, he was too busy stuffing his face with the tray that the nurse had brought him. The man finished his dinner within a matter of minutes. That is when he turned and looked out the window and stared at Scully. Scully took a step back, when she saw a full view of his face, It was definitely Mulder, there in the flesh. She had told herself that she was not going to cry, but when she saw those brown eyes look up at her, Scully burst out into tears. She could not believe that the man she had waited for so long for was finally back in her life and she could no longer hold back her sobs.

Skinner rushed to Scully's side, he had been conversing with Agent Garcia and Mulder's doctors. He pulled her into a hug. "Shhh, what is wrong?" He looked slightly panicked, it was rare for Scully to lose her cool.

"It's nothing," sobbed Scully. "I…I'm just happy to know he is alive. "She cried for a few minutes before finally composing herself. She pulled away from Skinner's embrace. "Thanks, I'm ready to see him now."

Scully walks to Mulder's door and quietly knocks on it. A nurse opens the door, she turns and smiles at Mulder. "It looks like you finally have a visitor!"

"Cool," says Mulder quietly as he fiddles with the utensils on his tray.

Scully walks in. She walks up to Mulder's bed. "Hello, I am Dr. Dana Scully. Can I have your name please?" She decided it would be the best route to treat him like she was just meeting him. She did not want to scare him or make him nervous. Patients with amnesia are under very fragile mental states.

Mulder looks up at Scully. There are no signs of recognition in his eyes. He looked awful, his hair was unkempt and shaggy. He was terribly thin, his cheeks were sunken in, and there was a large scar on his chin that was suggestive of someone hitting him with a blunt object. He reminded Scully of a concentration camp victim. Mulder shrugs his thin shoulders. "They call me Fox Mulder," he says like he was unsure if that was really his name. "I think Fox is a funny name though."


End file.
